BIS relics for PT tank

[Crixaliss]

So with the beginning of 1.2 and new campaign relics, does anyone have any thoughts on the best ones for a tank to select?

 

Some options:

 

Campaign relic of boundless ages:

+84 endurance

Activatable +405 power

 

Nice to have an activatable damage bonus to start off boss fights with to help you gain that immediate threat advantage over your dps, also a number of bosses which are only available to attack at certain times so you need to maximise your burst for those moments (SOA and fabricator for example). With the tight enrange timers, its also probably quite useful to give the tank as much extra damage as possible to aid the raid. Of course the endurance isn't bad either ^^

 

Campaign relic of Imperiling Serenity:

+57 Endurance

+41 Power

Activatable +405 defense

 

Well, the defense activation is excellent for a PT tank. We're a bit lacking in good defensive cooldowns compared to the other tanks, so this could be a great 'get-out-of-jail-free card' for those massive incoming damage moments. The decent power for that added dps bonus cant be forgotten either, useful for doing your bit on those enrage timers.

 

Matrix Cube M7-Y3:

+52 Aim

+60 Endurance

+18 Defense Rating

 

No activations, but the matrix cube still seems to remain a decent choice, that extra damage from aim will come in handy, and the defense rating is great. Unfortunately, although the constant defense will increase your damage avoidance for the whole fight, its missing out on that great defensive cooldown that the powertech misses.

 

 

I think I'm going to take one with the defensive cooldown, and one with the power bonus, but I'd like to hear some other options.

[OlosBC]

You listed, like, the three worst relics for PT tanks....

 

Use the absorb proc for sure. Shield/absorb relic FAR outstrips defense for PTs at any attainable gear level. Also, since as a tank you have very low crit and surge (assuming so if you're not terrible), the crit/surge activation relic is actually very good if you need the threat burst boost.

[Crixaliss]

You listed, like, the three worst relics for PT tanks....

 

Use the absorb proc for sure. Shield/absorb relic FAR outstrips defense for PTs at any attainable gear level. Also, since as a tank you have very low crit and surge (assuming so if you're not terrible), the crit/surge activation relic is actually very good if you need the threat burst boost.

 

Would you like to elaborate on why a shield/absorb relic outstrips defense on a PT?

 

PTs usual tanking is based around shield/absorb meaning they already have a lot of it and are probably at the point of diminishing returns from adding more. However, they have not so much defense, so a cooldown with defense should give a much greater increase in survivability for that duration than a shield/absorb one does, which they already have a lot of in the first place.

 

Unless I'm missing something.

 

Also, as far as I can see, theres no crit/surge campaign relic

[Bad-Johnny]

Not a pro player or anything but I hold my own with my PT and I agree with the OP on the Def bit. As far as BiS idk but looking at what you have listed I would go with Campaign relic of boundless ages and the matrix relic for the Endurance and some boost to DPS.

[Marb]

You listed, like, the three worst relics for PT tanks....

 

Use the absorb proc for sure. Shield/absorb relic FAR outstrips defense for PTs at any attainable gear level. Also, since as a tank you have very low crit and surge (assuming so if you're not terrible), the crit/surge activation relic is actually very good if you need the threat burst boost.

 

Also curious about this. I thought the defence relic was better only because as it provides flat defence rating, we wont hit any DR's by using it. Defence relic + an oil slick is pretty nice.

 

Also, you should be switching your relics depending on the fight. No use using a shield/absorb or a defence relic if the boss does damage that you can't defend or shield against.

[OlosBC]

You should still have a couple/few hundred defense on your gear, so it's not like defense isn't gonna be DR'd. Also, since the defense relic gives a bigger boost to only one stat, it is affected MORE by DR, not less. AND, since we aren't rolling that high % on defense, you don't get much of the whole effect where moving from 60% to 61% is much more valuable than moving from 40 to 41%. Also, a higher shield rating makes absorb more attractive, and a higher absorb makes shield more attractive. Add a ton to both, and guess what, both get more attractive.

 

Also factor in that I generally prefer shield mechanics over avoidance, as it provides more constant and less spiky damage mitigation, and it's pretty clear.

 

 

I will concede though, that the idea of stacking defense relic with oil slick does sound rather attractive. How much % does the defense trinket work out to? I'm currently sitting around 16.5% defense chance (including rakata 4pc bonus). Don't even have a def relic in my bags so can't really check if I cared to. I think I'd still favor shield/absorb though.

 

 

 

Also I guess I hadn't looked that closely at the relics, just saw the list of them and assumed there'd be crit/surge as well. I guess it makes sense, as crit/surge relics are really only nice for tanks, because surge's DR curve is effing retarded (unlike for tanking stats, DR for dps stats and especially surge IS a real thing)

[Mc_Gregor]

Absorption is the least affected by DR than any other tanking stat. Also, you gain more of it per single rating point. Now, You should be able to be around 350 def raiting in your standard tanking gear which means you are very close to DR on defence. So returns from using def relic will be worse than using shield/absorb relic. Also, since the game uses two roll system every point in defence makes your shield chance lower than it actually is. Defence roll comes first and this attack cant be shielded against which means you will generate a little more heat (its not very noticeble i guess but still a point to consider). Im currently using relic with absorption procc every 20s and I can say its just amazing. With heat screen stacked Im around 67-68% of absorption. With shield chance at 50% it makes all the diffrence in the world.

[thrakkemarn]

To add on to what the two previous posters said (which I totally agree with), assuming you are carrying around a clicky relic (on-use relic, whatever you call it) you are probably using it for an "oh crap!" moment on certain fights. If this is the case, then in that moment you NEED the relic to provide it's bonus. So while statistically defense MAY provide more overall mitigation, we're looking at a narrow window and you want the highest % chance to mitigate a single attack or flurry.

 

Lets say you're sitting at ~350 defense and click the defense relic for 405 more defense rating - that's going to put you somewhere around 20% defense all told. Lets say you stack oil slick and (excuse my math if this is inaccurate) you are at 40% avoidance for the duration. That's still 60% chance you will get hit, which IMO can easily happen, wasting your relic and possibly leaving you dead or your healers overstressed.

 

Now, instead if you are sitting at high 40s-50% shield and absorption, with heat screen up pushing you absorb even higher, and you click on the shield/absorb relic, you'll likely push yourself into the high 50s/60s% to shield and absorb attacks. This is MUCH more likely to occur when you need it, and while it doesn't negate whole attacks it marginalizes the damage far more effectively than defense.

 

TL;DR: IMO the proc absorb relic first and then the click shield/defense relic are the best mitigation relics. The Matrix-Cube is an excellent relic for all-around stats and I use it frequently with the proc-absorb.

Edited April 20, 2012 by thrakkemarn

[Crixaliss]

So it does seem that in my haste to post, I completely ignored the shield/absorb relics:

 

Campaign Relic of Shield Amplification:

+57 end

+41 power

shielding attack grants +405 absorb for 6secs, can only occur every 20s

 

Campaign Relic of the Shrouded Crusader:

+57 end

+41 power

On use: +255 shield/absorb

 

If those are considered more useful than the defense cooldown relic, which would take priority? And would you ever consider a more offensive cooldown (the +405 power) as a decent choice, or always take the stuff to up your mitigation?

[OlosBC]

So it does seem that in my haste to post, I completely ignored the shield/absorb relics:

 

Campaign Relic of Shield Amplification:

+57 end

+41 power

shielding attack grants +405 absorb for 6secs, can only occur every 20s

 

Campaign Relic of the Shrouded Crusader:

+57 end

+41 power

On use: +255 shield/absorb

 

If those are considered more useful than the defense cooldown relic, which would take priority? And would you ever consider a more offensive cooldown (the +405 power) as a decent choice, or always take the stuff to up your mitigation?

 

 

Those are the two trinkets you want to use. Absorb proc and shield/absorb activation.

 

I would actually go with 220 crit/surge (columi level) over 405 power. Because you don't have much crit or surge on your gear (aside for crit from aim), it suffers very little from DR, and adding like whatever % crit and putting you to mid-70s surge is pretty powerful. If you really need the fight, pop this relic at the start with explosive fuel, and you can even add a crit or power adrenal to get a lead on threat on fights where it's tight and you can't do taunt rotations.